Femtech taking off in Japan, but room for further growth remains

Since “femtech” became a buzzword in Japan several years ago, products and services developed to address women’s health have been introduced one after another — a phenomenon previously unthinkable in a society that once stigmatized such issues.

Period panties, with which the volume of menstrual blood flow can be tracked daily via an app, subscription services for birth control pills that can be delivered to homes, and disposable menstrual cups are some of the cutting-edge femtech products helping to make lives more comfortable for women.

But the budding industry around femtech, a portmanteau of the words “female” and “technology,” has room for more growth if consumers, businesses and the government work together to provide solutions to the myriad health and medical issues unique to women, analysts say.